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Review of The Lost World of Scripture
Read more: Review of The Lost World of ScriptureWalton, John H. and D. Brent Sandy. The Lost World of Scripture: Ancient Literary Culture and Biblical Authority. Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2013. 320 pgs. $17. Paperback. 978-0-8308-4032-8. In this book about the different understandings of “text” in the ancient and modern worlds, Walton and Sandy suggest that modern readers of the Bible can benefit…
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Writing Scripture
Read more: Writing ScriptureThis last weekend, 11 freshman stood in front of our congregation, affirmed their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and expressed their intention to journey with our church through life, at least until they move away for college. As part of this moment, we anointed each student with oil and said, “Because you…
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A Brief History of Old Testament Criticism—by Mark S. Gignilliat (A Review)
Read more: A Brief History of Old Testament Criticism—by Mark S. Gignilliat (A Review)On my trip to India over spring break—which you can read a little bit about here—I brought along a delightful little introduction to Old Testament Criticism by Mark S. Gignilliat, called, A Brief History of Old Testament Criticism: From Benedict Spinoza to Brevard Childs (check it out on Amazon). Gignilliat, who is Associate Professor of…
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Follow Your Arrow?
Read more: Follow Your Arrow?“Follow Your Arrow,” the catchy tune by singer-songwriter Kacey Musgraves, has found a home on country music radio and is getting love from those who embrace its message: be who you are, live for the moment, stop caring what people think. Like many of today’s chart-toppers, it tends to clash with my beliefs. But that…
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A Living Text?
Read more: A Living Text?What does it mean that the “word of God is living?” That’s a big question, but I will only focus on one part. I think that it is of fundamental importance to recognize that, in every day speech, there are two very different sorts of existence that we describe as “alive.” Before we apply the…
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Why the “Conference Culture” Must Die
Read more: Why the “Conference Culture” Must DieCommitted Christians go to conferences. Or so the narrative goes. Christian conferences are everywhere, all the time. They are at hotels, convention centers and churches. They also come in all shapes and sizes. You can go to a big conference or a little conference. You can go to a regional conference or a national conference.…
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Wandering Minds
Read more: Wandering MindsAs I settled into the book of Deuteronomy this evening for a little devotional reading, I was taken aback by the following verses: “Normally it takes only eleven days to travel from Mount Sinai to Kadesh-barnea, going by way of Mount Seir. But forty years after the Israelites left Egypt, on the first day of…
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The Giving Word: a Reflection
Read more: The Giving Word: a Reflection“For this we labor and strive…” God is a giver. So much of Christian belief and action rests on this elementary observation that it is almost shameful to put into words. God’s gifts of grace and mercy are daily refreshed (Lam 3:22-23), and the gifted grace of Christ Jesus is held as the defining “giving”…